Men's basketball: Stanford beginning to believe

The Stanford men's basketball team knows it has little room for error if it intends to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time in Johnny Dawkins' six-year tenure as head coach.

That's why avenging a 17-point loss on the road a month ago at UCLA was priority No. 1 on Saturday afternoon at Maples Pavilion. Especially with only four games left in the regular season.

"We knew the magnitude of this game," Stanford guard Chasson Randle said. "It was one that we felt we had to win."

Randle was a big reason why the Cardinal (18-8, 9-5 Pac-12) came out on top 83-74 against the No. 23 Bruins.

The 6-foot-2 junior sank a career-high seven 3-pointers in 10 tries to finish with a game-high 26 points. Stanford shot 73.7 percent from the field in the second half and 62.2 percent for the game. The last time the Cardinal shot over 60 percent in a conference game was Feb. 22, 2003 -- against UCLA.

The 6-7, 230-pound forward was honored before the game for breaking the all-time blocks record at Stanford. Huestis added five more to his career total in the win over UCLA (21-6, 10-4), which fell two games behind third-ranked Arizona in the Pac-12 standings.

The Bruins had won four in a row and held the Cardinal to under 40 percent from the floor in their first meeting. So what changed in a matter of a month?

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"I think it took the game at UCLA to really make us look inside ourselves and see what we wanted out of this season -- and understand what we needed to do to get it," said Huestis, who noted this is a different team, one that's more aggressive and tougher. "We want to be a team that wants to go as far as we possibly can and we believe that as long as we play to the best of our ability and play like we're capable of, there's nobody that can beat us."

Stanford has won five of its past six since a three-point loss to Arizona and finds itself in a tie with Cal for third place in the Pac-12.

"I really think that as long as we keep on that path, we've got unlimited growth and potential," Huestis said.

UCLA was ahead 11-10 in the first half when Randle knocked down his third 3-pointer with 13:24 left, after which point the Cardinal never trailed again.

Up 38-30 at halftime, the coaching staff made it a point of emphasis to get big man Dwight Powell involved. The 6-10 senior came in averaging 15.0 points, yet only attempted one shot in the first half. Just 13 seconds out of the locker room, Powell put an end to that with a three-point play in the paint.

By the 16:06 mark, Powell had nine points and Stanford was up 52-39, with UCLA forced to call a timeout after Randle shoved a pass to teammate Anthony Brown, who was off balance and redirected the pass in midair to Powell for an alley-oop slam. The highlight ranked No. 1 in ESPN's "Top 10 Plays" package that night.

But the Bruins refused to go away, forcing 15 turnovers to push their way back to within 60-57 with 9:38 left.

"Basketball is a game of runs and UCLA went on theirs," said Huestis, who matched a career high with 22 points. "There are games where if you don't respond, that game could've easily changed the outcome."

Stanford found its answer with a 3-pointer from Brown, who chipped in 18 points.

"Every time they made a run, our guys responded," Dawkins said. "That says a lot about their belief."

After UCLA missed on its ensuing possession, Randle hit another dagger from beyond the arc to re-establish a 66-57 lead with 8:15 left. Randle must have been getting flashbacks to the first round of the Pac-12 tournament his freshman year, when he torched Arizona State for 30 points and finished 6 of 8 from downtown.

"I mean, I missed," Randle said. "But Ant Brown, my teammate, he told me it only takes one to get hot. We used that motto, believed in each other and shots were falling today."

"He pretty much has the green light for us, that's for sure," Dawkins said. "He's someone I want taking shots. I want him making plays, that's a strength of his. He understands that's his role for his team, and his teammates understand, more importantly. They understand and they want him in those positions."

So how much stronger are Stanford's odds to reach March Madness after its third victory against a ranked opponent?